Win The Day # 6 – My First Father’s Day Without Dad: Grieving with Hope

This Father’s Day feels different. It is different.
It’s the first one where I don’t get to call my dad, hear his voice, or tell him I love him. The first time I can’t wrap my arms around him or hand him a card. The first time I look up instead of across the room to say, “Happy Father’s Day.”

Grief is strange like that. It creeps in when you least expect it.
A memory, a smell, a certain song on the radio—and suddenly your heart aches in places you didn’t know existed.

But in the middle of the ache, I’ve found something else.
Hope.

Not the kind of hope that pretends everything is okay.
But the kind that whispers, “You’re not alone. God is still with you. You will make it through this.”

On days like this, I’ve learned it’s okay to cry.
It’s okay to miss him deeply and still smile at the memories.
Grief and joy can live side by side when God holds both.

To anyone who is hurting — you’re not alone.
Grief is a heavy road, but we walk it with the One who conquered death and promises eternal life.
And that gives me hope that one day, there will be no more goodbyes.

Until then, we remember.
We grieve.
We persevere.

And we rest in the arms of our Father in Heaven.

Miss you, Dad.